About the author

Veerle VrindtsBilzenMaster student Social and Cultural Anthropology in VU Amsterdam

I am one of many young people hoping to ‘be the change they want to see in this world’, as Ghandi adviced us to do. You could call me a dreamer, a writer, an activist- artist if you wish. I am born in the eigthies (1987), dividing my studytime between my Master in Social and Cultural Anthropology and 2th year Psychology at Free University Amsterdam.
Besides studying I try to make the most of my days by rushing from seminars about peer-education to youth led development conferences, activist workshops and many other sociocultural projects. Writing is a very important part of my life. As a thirteen year old I published my first youth roman.Geheime Vrienden(2000). A poem collection "Donker bij hemelsblauw" (2003) and a second youth roman "Niet meer dan lucht" (2006) followed soon after. Since I started university my writing shifted from fiction to journalistic articles, opinion essays and short stories. In the academic year 2008-2009, I worked as a columnist for the Maastricht University newspaper Observant.
I have been a vegetarian for more than half of my life and this choice has influenced my vision on the world and society in almost every aspect. By reading about the ethical foundations of vegetarianism, I soon realized the consequences meat eating has on our health, on the unequal distribution of food resources and most of all... global warming. Inspired by Dr. Rachendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panal on Climate Change and the climate movie 'Meat the Truth' (2009), I already devoted several articles to the effects of factory farming on the global climate in the first round of TH!NK. However, the last word about 'less meat, less heat' is yet to be written.